Panelák

Interwar Czechoslovakia saw many constructivist architects in the country, such as Vladimír Karfík and František Lydie Gahura, many of whom would maintain prominence following the establishment of the Czechoslovak People's Republic in 1948.

[1] Planners from the communist era wanted to provide large quantities of fast and affordable housing, as well as to slash costs by employing uniform designs over the whole country.

In Prague and other large cities, most paneláks were built in a type of housing estate known as a sídliště (in Czech) or sídlisko (in Slovak).

[citation needed]Following the Velvet Revolution in 1989, there was widespread speculation that the country's paneláks would fall out of favor, due to their simplicity and small size.

[citation needed] Most's historical city was largely torn down due to the spread of coal mining and the majority of its population was moved into paneláks.

[citation needed] Some Czech sociologists fear that panelák inhabitants may lack amenities, and suffer from being unable to physically access distant businesses and commercial centres.

To combat this, certain local authorities are making significant efforts to prevent this scenario by changing bedroom communities into multifunctional urban neighbourhoods.

[citation needed] Paneláks, particularly in big cities, are often the first targets for builders of telecommunication networks, as the housing estates combine a high concentration of people with easy access to underground and in-house spaces for cables.

[citation needed] In March 2005, the director of the Czech Ministry of Regional Development expressed concerns that the country's paneláks were near the end of their lifespan, citing an increasing number of structural incidents.

[1] Many panelák flats are now the property of their inhabitants, though they are also rented out through real estate agents and private landlords, although some apartments are still owned by the government and are usually used for social housing.

[citation needed] The buildings and surrounding areas are often owned and managed by the government, administrative divisions, housing cooperatives, authorities, self-governing (non-profit) organizations, owners of apartments (individual blocks), and/or through public–private partnerships and such, or a combination thereof.

He enacted a mass programme of demolition and reconstruction of existing villages, towns, and cities, in whole or in part, in order to build blocks of flats (blocuri).

[citation needed] In Bulgaria, buildings similar to paneláks are colloquially known as "panelki", and are the predominant type of en masse housing throughout the country.

[citation needed] In the EU, among former communist countries, a majority of the population lives in flats in Latvia (65.1%), Estonia (63.8%), Lithuania (58.4%), Czech Republic (52.8%) and Slovakia (50.3%) (as of 2014, data from Eurostat).